Loved Ones Hoping Police Will Find Suspect In Deadly Harlem Shooting
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Loved ones of a woman who was shot and killed by a stray bullet in Harlem are hoping police will be able to track down the killer.
A new police sketch was released Thursday in connection with the death of 61-year-old Odessa Simms.
"I'd like to find him myself, and I'll do something with him," the victim's friend, Rudy Alberts, told CBS2's Janelle Burrell.
Investigators said just before midnight Saturday, Simms was sitting on a bench on Lenox Avenue near West 144th Street watching a card game when she was struck by a stray bullet, piercing her neck and killing her.
Robert Foye, Simms' brother, lived with her and her husband just blocks from the murder scene. He said he learned about her death from a phone call that woke him.
"He can run, but he can't hide," Foye said. "They're going to get him sooner or later."
Alberts said Simms would often come to the area where she was shot to unwind. For her to lose her life there in such a senseless way makes it all the more difficult for loved ones to accept, Burrell reported.
"For somebody to shoot because you're mad at somebody else -- oh, no," he said. "She don't bother nobody. She sits down here plays dominoes."
Fliers are now plastered around the community asking the public for tips. Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information.
"I hope they catch him and he gets what he has coming to him," Foye said.
The suspect is described as a black man in his late 20s or early 30s with short black hair, an athletic build and clean shaven. He was last seen wearing a black shirt.
Simms leaves behind several children and grandchildren. Her funeral is scheduled for Wednesday.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 888-57-PISTA (74782), visit www.NYPDCrimeStoppers.com or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
